The present invention relates to an airbag apparatus, and more particularly, to an airbag apparatus capable of suppressing the head of a passenger from moving in a diagonal direction in case of an oblique collision of a vehicle.
In general, a vehicle includes airbags to protect a passenger. The airbags are disposed at various positions depending on a passenger's parts which need to be protected. A steering wheel includes a driver airbag to protect the head of a driver, and a passenger airbag is installed at the front of the vehicle so as to protect the head of a passenger seated beside the driver.
In case of a head-on or oblique collision of the vehicle, an electronic control module decides whether to ignite the detonator of an inflator. When gas is generated from the inflator, an airbag cushion is expanded by the generated gas. Recently, the strict regulations for passenger protection have increased the size of the airbag cushion.
However, when gas leaks from the airbag cushion after the airbag cushion is completely expanded, the support force or expensive force of the airbag cushion is reduced. In this case, the airbag cushion may not suppress the head from moving in a diagonal direction.
Furthermore, when the size of the airbag cushion is increased, the expansion time of the airbag cushion may be increased. Thus, in case of an oblique collision of the vehicle, the time to hold the head may be delayed to cause an injury to the head or neck of a passenger.